The Ethernet standard is a local area network (LAN) standard, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.3, which is widely used. The increased use of the internet and increasing bandwidth requirements due to multimedia data types such as video have extended the Ethernet standard to accommodate increasing data rates. For example, the overarching 802.3 standard presently contains multiple separate standards to accommodate Ethernet systems operating at various data rates, such as, 10 million bits per second (Mbps), 100 Mbps, 1 gigabits per second (Gbps), and 10 Gbps.
The 802.3 physical layer describes the data rates, how signals are handled, and provides interconnecting specifications covering, for example, copper and fiber optic cabling. The media access control (MAC) layer defines the protocol and data formats used in the interface, including data packet definition, error recovery, and the like. The Ethernet signals on the interface operate at a data rate within the bounds of the standards but asynchronous to the system connected to the Ethernet network. The asynchronous aspects of this interface require that data received from the network in synchronism with the network clock domain must transfer in the connected system to the system's clock domain. This clock domain transfer can typically be expensive and potentially prone to errors.